Always You

12

👆🏾Derrick and Joyce
Recap...
Derrick shook his head this whole time he was breaking bread with his enemy. Derrick slowly raised a gun to Kenneth's head and pulled the trigger BANG! He watched as his body slumped and turned and walked out "take me back to my wife!"

Derrick walked into the hospital room and sat next to the bed. He just sat there and stared at his sleeping wife. He'd been right at her side these past few days just watching her and thinking about how he was going to help her get through this trauma. If I were her I wouldn't want to look at you either. Her being here is your fault! His inner thoughts screamed.

Derrick put his head down and tried to shake his negative thoughts away, but he couldn't. "You're thinking really loud" Derrick's head popped up and looked at his wife's still closed eyes and exhaled loudly "fuck I'm losing my mind in this damn hospital" he said under his breath. He heard that melodic laugh he was so used to "you're not going crazy baby I'm up. I've been up for a while. Nice of you to finally join me." She said turning her head to look at him.

Derrick dropped his head. He couldn't even look her in the eyes. "Derrick look at me." He just shook his head "I can't" he said on a tortured whisper. "He violated you!" He said becoming angry. "Come here." She said opening her arms for him to lay next to her. "Nah I'm gone sit here I don't want to make anything worse than it already is." "Derrick Michael Grey if you don't get your black ass in this bed with your wife I know something!" She said smiling at him.

                    Derrick slowly got up and laid next to his wife as carefully as he could and she immediately wrapped him up in her arms. "None of this is your fault. And knowing my vengeful over protective husband that asshole is dead." He scoffed "believe that." He said hugging her tighter to him.

                "We're good. I'm good. No one is going to take my happiness. Men like him can't control anything in their miserable lives, so they take it out on other people. He wants to ruin our bond with what he did, but I'm not gonna let him!" She said getting choked up. "We're not gonna let him." Derrick said looking her in the eyes for the first time.

                  She smiled at him and before she turned and started to dig underneath her pillow. Derrick raised up "what you doing? You not comfortable?" she finally got what she was after and settled back down in the bed before saying "I was trying to get this. Remember there's always sun after the rain." She said smiling as she handed him a small piece of paper.

                  Derrick grabbed it and stared at it for a moment before looking at her "we're having a baby?" She nodded with a teary eyed smile "yeah and I hope it's a boy that's just like his dad. My little Michael." Derrick pulled her to him and kissed her letting every bit of love he felt for her shine through.

Present day...

      Michael's POV
                     I sat there staring at my parents really seeing them for the first time in my life. My mom finally broke the silence. "That's it son. That's the truth. The whole story. Yes I was raped, but your father is Derrick Michael Grey without a doubt." My father cleared his throat "the only reason people questioned your paternity was because of your mom's assault. She was already pregnant and we just didn't know yet."

                        I slowly nodded my head "I'm sorry" I said to them "for what?" My dad said "for not coming to you the moment that someone said that. I should have just asked you. But honestly, I couldn't bare the thought that you weren't my pops."

                 He smiled at his son "boy you act just like me. Sometimes when I look at you I see the younger version of myself. Yeah you look like ya mama, but you all me."  I exhaled loudly before saying "yeah I wish I was more like you. You seen mama, you got her, you treated her right. You knew what you wanted and you went after it." I rubbed my hand down my face "it feels like every time I take one step forward with Nina I fuck up and get shoved 10 steps back"

                   My mama laughed loudly "boy please! Your daddy was just as bad with these women out here as you and your brothers are. He just found a woman that wasn't gonna tolerate his shit! I left your dad! That's when he got his act together and became a man and asked me to marry him. I made him work for it. That's what I love about Nina she reminds me of me." I looked at my dad "ma left you?! What did you do to get her back?"

                   I'd take any advice I could get. "I was a dumbass just like your mama said. I knew the moment I seen her I wanted her, but I didn't realize I was staring at my wife until it was almost too late." Me being impatient I said "ok I get all that, but how did you get her back. How did you make her marry you?" my dad laughed and said "well first get it out your mind that you can MAKE a woman do anything. I showed her what she'd be missing if she didn't marry me."

                      He continued "you gotta let her know that if she walks away from you she's walking away from a lifetime of love and devotion. Your job is to make her feel secure. Figure out her favorite things, and not just the surface level stuff. You gotta pay attention and watch for all that corny shit your woman likes."

                   He sighed "in short you're gonna have to study your woman night and day you gotta know her better than she knows herself. You gotta show her that you'll give her everything she wants and everything she never knew she needed."

                  I nodded my head "so what you saying is I got some homework to do." My mom walked over and hugged me "lots and lots of homework. Now get out my house cause your daddy gots lots of work to do as well." She said smiling over at him. I jumped up and grabbed my keys and rushed out, but not before yelling "y'all nasty!"

                  I left my parents' house with a renewed sense of purpose. "Nina I'm gonna show you how amazing life with me could be."